Keeping her resume updated during the season was a task, but there was a little break for Amanda Thompson.

          Time to update.

          The Mercer women’s basketball star became the school’s third athlete of the year in the Southern Conference, Thompson being named the SoCon’s female athlete of the year on Tuesday.

          She’s the third Bear to take the honor. Former teammate Kahlia Lawrence won it in 2017-18, and men’s soccer standout Will Magrou was the male recipient twice, in 2016-17 and 2017-18.

          Thompson and Lawrence helped Mercer become the third program to win the female honor in consecutive seasons, joining Appalachian State track and field in the early 1990s and Chattanooga in track and field/cross country a little more than a decade ago.,

          Thompson has also won the conference’s Pinnacle Award as the student-athlete with the top GPA on a championship-winning team, and she’s done it two years in a row.

          That goes with five visits to the Mercer President’s List and two to the Dean’s List, in addition to a conference-awarded postgraduate scholarship.

          “Amanda is not only an excellent basketball player, but those of us that know her beyond the court know what an exceptional person she is,” said Mercer women’s basketball head coach Susie Gardner in a release. “She was a team captain for all four years and was the glue for our team over that time. The coaches, teammates, fans and the entire Mercer Family respect and admire Amanda.

          “I know Amanda’s family is very proud of all that she has accomplished and the woman that she is. I could not be prouder of Amanda for being the incredible role model she is, along with being an amazing ambassador for the Southern Conference.”

          Thompson averaged 13.3 points and 10.6 rebounds as a senior, leading the conference in rebounds and racking up 16 double-doubles. The coaches’ conference player of the year helped Mercer to a fourth straight conference regular-season title and second straight tournament championship.

          She was the SoCon player of the week four times and player of the month three times as a senior.

          Thompson, of Haynesville, N.C., also earned national academic honors in the spring, before graduating with honors in May as an electrical engineering major.

          Thompson also participated in Mercer on Mission, and worked in Ecuador and Peru, helping small-scale and artisanal gold miners on a process to make refining gold safer. Thompson also participated in a program that uses engineering to adapt electrically powered card for children with disabilities.